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Dean Banfield called winner in close select-board race; organizers say results await town certification
Summary
Organizers at an election-night watch party called the close select-board race for Dean Banfield after precinct returns showed a narrow lead; they said final results depend on town-hall reconciliation of mail-ins and ballots needing manual review.
Organizers at an election-night event called a close select-board race for Dean Banfield after precinct tallies from individual polling places showed him with a narrow lead over Sam.
The event’s moderator, who was running the on-site reporting and results display, said precinct-posted tallies and photos of tally sheets were being uploaded live but that the official count would come from the town. "As data comes in from each polling location, it'll be updated here and you'll see it updated on the screen," the moderator said, adding that organizers would wait for the town's official reconciliation of mail-in and manually counted ballots before final certification.
Organizers read precinct returns throughout the evening. At one point aggregated on-site figures showed roughly 1,644 votes for Banfield and about 1,466 for Sam; the moderator cautioned these were precinct-posted totals, not certified results. The moderator also described statistical and probability checks on outstanding ballots and said those checks made them "very comfortable to call the race" for Banfield while still urging patience for the town's official numbers.
After the call, someone on stage congratulated the winner and invited him to speak. Dean Banfield thanked his opponent and campaign team, saying, "I want to thank Sam for running. Democracy is really improved when there are options for the voter," and praised the civil tone of the campaign.
Throughout the evening organizers noted that write-in ballots, overseas ballots and ballots that the machine had rejected for manual review were counted separately and would be reconciled by town staff before certification. The moderator urged volunteers concerned about election procedure to work with the town clerk's office and said that participating in the process is the best way to understand how local elections are run.
The event ended after brief remarks and a reminder that the town would issue the official, certified results following reconciliation of outstanding ballots.
